![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
certificated at last
Apr. 27th, 2011 09:41 amI am not generally a proponent of conspiracy theories, certainly not the ones that are more implausible than any implausibilities they seek to explain. But it does seem to me that, if the conspiracy is not true, there ought to be plain simple answers to the questions that the conspiracy theorists raise, even if they ignore or deny those answers.
In many cases there are. I am aware, for instance, that when JFK assassination conspiracy theorists say that it was impossible for the "magic bullet" to behave as the Warren report stated, or that Oswald couldn't have squeezed off that many shots in such a short time, these claims are not true, though I'm not well-versed enough to conduct an argument against those who make them. I am better versed in countering claims that the Moon landings were faked. In the case of 9/11 conspiracies, simple logic makes the case: if it really was impossible for the towers to have pancaked as a result of the plane crashes, then it was remarkably stupid of the conspirators to have blown them up; if it wasn't impossible, then they didn't do it.
So it's annoying to have a conspiracy theory that is obviously complete nonsense, yet for which the simple answer to the simple question was not supplied. And the simple question was, "Where is Obama's original birth certificate?" The document previously supplied as his birth certificate, while unquestionably an official document from the state of Hawaii usable for any ordinary legal purposes, like applying for a passport, is not the original 1961 document, but one created at a later time, certifying to the state's possession of the record. But since the Obama campaign released this document, why couldn't they release the original? I've seen several answers to this question, none of them satisfactory.
1) The released document is the original. (Obviously not true.)
2) The originals of that era were destroyed when the information was computerized. (Possible, but inconsistent with #3.)
3) State officials have inspected the original, but they can't legally release it; only Obama can request a copy. (But Obama requested and released a copy of the later document, so why not this one?)
For three years I've wondered about this, ill-equipped to fight off nutcases who think his impecunious student mother inexplicably flew off to Kenya just to have her baby, and then came back to Hawaii to try to pretend she hadn't done it. Anyway, here it finally is: a scan of Obama's original birth certificate.
What took so long?
In many cases there are. I am aware, for instance, that when JFK assassination conspiracy theorists say that it was impossible for the "magic bullet" to behave as the Warren report stated, or that Oswald couldn't have squeezed off that many shots in such a short time, these claims are not true, though I'm not well-versed enough to conduct an argument against those who make them. I am better versed in countering claims that the Moon landings were faked. In the case of 9/11 conspiracies, simple logic makes the case: if it really was impossible for the towers to have pancaked as a result of the plane crashes, then it was remarkably stupid of the conspirators to have blown them up; if it wasn't impossible, then they didn't do it.
So it's annoying to have a conspiracy theory that is obviously complete nonsense, yet for which the simple answer to the simple question was not supplied. And the simple question was, "Where is Obama's original birth certificate?" The document previously supplied as his birth certificate, while unquestionably an official document from the state of Hawaii usable for any ordinary legal purposes, like applying for a passport, is not the original 1961 document, but one created at a later time, certifying to the state's possession of the record. But since the Obama campaign released this document, why couldn't they release the original? I've seen several answers to this question, none of them satisfactory.
1) The released document is the original. (Obviously not true.)
2) The originals of that era were destroyed when the information was computerized. (Possible, but inconsistent with #3.)
3) State officials have inspected the original, but they can't legally release it; only Obama can request a copy. (But Obama requested and released a copy of the later document, so why not this one?)
For three years I've wondered about this, ill-equipped to fight off nutcases who think his impecunious student mother inexplicably flew off to Kenya just to have her baby, and then came back to Hawaii to try to pretend she hadn't done it. Anyway, here it finally is: a scan of Obama's original birth certificate.
What took so long?
